Plants are ‘forced’ to grow in a specific site and are therefore invariably exposed to the influence of whimsical weather conditions, which interfere with their growth. The most common abiotic stresses include drought, soil salinity, presence of heavy metals, excessively high or low temperature. Improvement in the plants’ resistance to unfavourable environmental conditions may increase harvested yields by as much as 70 to 80%. In many laboratories around the world, basic studies are underway to elucidate the plants’ response mechanisms to stressors. Identification of the modifications induced in plant proteins by stresses can provide a wealth of useful information about the adaptability of plants to adverse conditions. The development of proteomic techniques creates new opportunities for protein identification and for gaining a better understanding of stress tolerance mechanisms. It is also important to elaborate uniform procedures for the plant material preparation and analyses as well as validation of results. Chances are high that the results of research on biomarkers will be used in agricultural practice. The objective of this study has been to present major achievements in the proteomic research on plants connected with the plant tolerance to abiotic stresses.

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